


Hard Girls

by MarqArts (HenryMercury)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Digital Art, Drabble, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 20:19:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14678745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HenryMercury/pseuds/MarqArts
Summary: Lavender is tough the way ballet dancers and gymnasts are tough; she smiles through it, makes it look pretty.





	Hard Girls

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Two days ago I finally got a device with art capabilities, and this is my first Ever piece of digital art. So... be kind? There are some words here too, because I ended up with a bunch of ideas about these two.
> 
> Title from KT Tunstall's song of the same name.
> 
> Also: I know this doesn't really fill any of the rarepair bingo squares. Let's just be cool with it

Ginny’s learned a lot since Hogwarts. She’s learned, for instance, that Potions is more useful in the life of a pro quidditch player than expected. She’s uncovered Gwenog Jones’ soft spot for baby goats, and the fact that Harry’s as bisexual as she is. She’s also learned how wrong she was to think of Lavender Brown as anything but tough.

She’d probably never have seen the girl again if it weren’t for the little support group Lavender and Bill started up. (Mum made sure they held it at the Burrow even though nobody involved technically resided there--which was a bit much in Ginny’s opinion, though at least nobody complained about the catering.) Gin had flooed back from Wales on a Saturday afternoon and stumbled into their little meeting, all of them sipping tea and talking about what it was like to be at least partly lycanthropic.

Bill was laughing at something, an older man Ginny now knows as Thomas was vanishing crumbs off the front of his jumper, and—and there was Lavender Brown, dressed in a baby pink knit dress and smiling like nothing truly awful had ever happened to her. Only the deep claw marks on the left side of her face told a different story. She didn’t look at all like someone who’d been to war, except that she also really did.

*

Other things Ginny has learned in recent years include that Lavender dated Parvati in school, that she drinks her coffee black but likes to float mini marshmallows in it, and that her nails grow extra fast. She trims them every night before they climb into bed together, especially nearing the full moon. Lavender masks her pain with something other than the rough bravado Ginny’s used to, but that doesn’t mean she’s not doing the same damned thing Gin herself is, and that’s been perhaps the biggest lesson of all.

Lavender is tough the way ballet dancers and gymnasts are tough; she smiles through it, makes it look effortless and pretty. She swallows the foul potions she’s prescribed with grace. She doesn’t conceal her scars, but she does match her lip gloss to them sometimes. Her arms are deceptively strong when they hold Ginny on the bad mornings, when she doesn’t think she can get out of bed, and Gin returns the favour when bits of dead animals turn up around the place after a wolfy night. They don’t keep pets. Lavender doesn’t require an explanation for the specific veto on chickens, but Ginny gives one anyway on the off chance it helps Lav feel better.

Lavender always invites Ginny out dancing with her friends even though Ginny’s frankly a huge embarrassment on the dancefloor and isn’t allowed to drink anything that might assist, and she comes to every match the Harpies play, even if Gin’s only in reserve and the sky is blasting icy wind and snow. She cheers from the stands even when they’re virtually empty, and she’s always halfway onto the pitch by the time Ginny lands, ready with a victory kiss or a consolation snog as required. It may not surprise Ginny anymore to see exactly how strong a person in fluffy mittens can be, but it never ceases to amaze.

 


End file.
